


Perspective

by Hobbes1667



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Grieving, Hurt/Comfort, Older Woman/Younger Man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:14:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29861394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hobbes1667/pseuds/Hobbes1667
Summary: After the death of her mother, Mako helps Lin gain some perspective.
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Mako
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18
Collections: 2021 Avatar Pro-Shipping Rare Pair Challenge





	Perspective

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for the 2021 Avatar Rare-Pair challenge. The prompt for this was Hurt/Comfort.

There was a clang as  Lin’s mug  hit the floor.

“Babe what was that?” Mako’s voice drifted in from  another room from the apartment.

He wandered into the kitchen where he saw Lin covering her mouth with her hand. She held a letter in the other hand. The coffee had spilled from the mug all over the floor.

Mako rushed over to Lin and embraced her from behind. He didn't dare peek at the letter. He instead closed his eye kissed Lin on the neck.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Mako whispered.

"My mother passed away." Lin said, her voice  bereft of emotion.

Mako tightened his embrace around Lin. "What are you going to do?"

Lin gulped, "I don't know. I'll deal with it after work."

"No." Mako replied.

Before Lin could respond Mako shoved his arm under Lin's legs and picked up her bridal style.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Lin protested.

She kept her resistance to mere squirming since the level of force needed to break free from Mako's strong arms would end up wrecking something in the apartment. 

"I'm afraid you'd say that. That you would try and bottle it up." Mako answered grimly.

As they reached the bedroom, he added "Well, I'm not gonna let that happen."

Mako let Lin down gently in the middle of the bed. He quickly crawled in after and brought her into another embrace.

"Babe...Lin... I know what you’re feeling right now. And I want to let it out. I want you to cry"

Lin tried to shake her head. "You... don't know what I am feeling right now."

Mako gently grabbed Lin's chin so he could look into her eyes.

"You're not the first person to lose a parent." Mako said, his gently tone belying the reprimand.

Guilt became evident on Lin's eyes. She shifted her eyes down to avoid his gaze.

"I'm....  sorr ....." Lin couldn't finish. She buried her head in Mako's chest and began to sob.

Mako started stroking her hair. "You have nothing to  apologize for."

Mako did his best to comfort her as Lin wept into his shirt. He wasn't sure if his hair stroking and whispering of sweet nothings did anything to help, but at the very least it did make him feel like he was helping.

After a while Lin's sobbing began to subside into peaceful breathing. Their bedroom was the stillest it had ever been. In some ways Mako enjoyed it.

"In the beginning, bottling it up feels better" Mako said, "But what you shove deep down it begins to simmer and turn into daggers. The pain gets worse and worse and eventually it consumes all of what you remember of what you loved."

Mako let out a bitter laugh. "Bolin remembers our parents better than I do. He gets to remember the good times. All I get to remember is the agony of their death. It's what I bottled up and never let out, after all these years."

Lin shifted her head so she could look at Mako. The redness in her eyes made Mako's heart beat with pain.

"Why did you bottle it up?" She asked.

"Because I had no choice" Mako replied, "Bottling it up hurts like hell, but it keeps you functional and I had to be functional for the both of us."

Mako leaned down and kissed Lin.

"But you do have a choice. You're not some poor orphan on the street with no one to turn to. You have people that love you. You have me, the rest of the  krew and your sister and the rest of her family. I love you Lin and I am going to help you get through this. No matter how long it takes. When it gets  tough I want you remember that."

For the first time that morning Lin smiled. There was a shine in her tear-filled eyes. "I... will."


End file.
